NIIT Acquires iamneo to Strengthen Footprint in Digital Skilling Ecosystem

NIIT Limited, a global leader in skills and talent development, has acquired 70% stake in iamneo, a leading provider of technology training solutions through an AI powered and deep skilling SaaS platform focused on enhancing tech hiring, training, and learning outcomes for universities and enterprises.

This strategic acquisition unlocks substantial growth opportunities, enabling NIIT and the Company to deliver robust, outcome-driven learning solutions at scale for undergraduates and early career professionals through University and Corporates.

Anand Rathi Investment Banking acted as the buyside Investment Banking advisor to NIIT Limited, providing end-to-end strategic and transaction advisory. This marks the firm’s strong execution capabilities and deep domain expertise across the education and skilling domain.

Mr. Vijay Thadani, Co-founder & MD, NIIT Limited. said, "Anand Rathi Advisors played an important role in structuring a balanced, win-win deal. Their perseverance, domain insight, and strategic inputs were invaluable to the success of this acquisition.”

Mr. Samir Bahl, CEO, Anand Rathi Investment Banking, commented: "This transaction exemplifies the growing convergence of AI, digital learning, and workforce readiness. We are proud to have supported NIIT in this strategic acquisition that deepens its digital skilling portfolio and enhances its relevance in a rapidly evolving talent ecosystem. At Anand Rathi, we remain committed to advising forward-looking businesses in the education and technology sector."

NIIT and Axis Bank Partner to Launch FinTech Engineering Programme

Business Wire India

Axis Bank – NIIT Digital Banking Academy, a joint initiative by Axis Bank, India’s third-largest private sector bank, and NIIT Institute of Finance, Banking and Insurance (NIIT IFBI), has launched its second programme for experienced IT professionals - “FinTech Engineering Programme” that offers a great career as “FrontEnd and BackEnd Application Developers” with Freecharge, one of the leading digital platforms for financial service’s and a wholly owned subsidiary of Axis Bank.

The Axis Bank - NIIT Digital Banking Academy was launched this year for building a high-quality talent pool for Axis Bank in FinTech Roles. The Academy has been successfully running the ‘FinTech Professional Programme’ under this joint initiative.

The FinTech Engineering Programme offers graduates with 1+ years of experience an opportunity to become FinTech professionals and join Freecharge as Deputy Manager (IT). The programme is immersive in nature, where the learners perform tasks of similar complexity, as they would face in their role. Post successful completion of this 12 weeks immersive programme, learners will be deployed in FinTech roles at FreeCharge as either FrontEnd Application Developer or BackEnd Application Developer.

The course will include a common Foundation Module upon completion of which, candidates will undergo modules related to FrontEnd Developer or BackEnd Developer roles. The course will culminate with a project where candidates will apply and demonstrate the competencies that they have gained over the course. Overall, the programme will include exposure to live projects and extensive practice and mentoring to enable candidates to acquire the experience and confidence to perform in their roles.

Bimaljeet Singh Bhasin, President, Skills and Careers Business, NIIT Ltd., said, " At NIIT, we have always believed in working closely with the industry to build talent which is future ready and is equipped with modern digital and technology skills. We had recently launched the Axis Bank - NIIT Digital Banking Academy, in collaboration with Axis Bank, to build talent for the fintech sector. Today, we are announcing the FinTech Engineering Programme from the Academy to prepare candidates for a promising engineering career in Freecharge by Axis Bank. This is another milestone in our efforts to build a strong talent pipeline for the bank.”

Siddharth Mehta, MD & CEO Freecharge stated, “At Freecharge, we have always believed in nurturing & grooming budding talent by providing them with the right training opportunities. Through our partnership with NIIT, a leader in the skill development space, we look forward to building a talent pool of industry-ready engineers, who are not just proficient in technology, but also have a good understanding of the FinTech domain.”

For more information please visit: https://www.niit.com/india/graduates/software-engineering/fintech-engineering-program

P Rajendran Felicitated with IIT Delhi Alumni Award for Outstanding Contribution to National Development – for Corporate Excellence

NIIT Limited, a global leader in Skills and Talent Development, announced that P. Rajendran, Joint Managing Director & Co-Founder, NIIT Ltd. has been felicitated with the prestigious IIT Delhi Alumni Award for Outstanding Contribution to National Development - Corporate Excellence. The award was presented during an exclusive three-day online Conclave - IIT Delhi Alumni Fest 2020 themed ‘Exploring the New Normal’ from 26-28 December 2020, and part of IIT Delhi's Diamond Jubilee celebration.

These awards were instituted by the IIT Delhi Alumni Association (IITDAA) in 1999 to honour IIT Delhi alumni for their contribution towards National Development, and are conferred each year to enhance the awareness of the work done by IIT Delhi Alumni in their professions, impacting national development.

Speaking during the occasion, Ravindra Kumar, President, IIT Delhi Alumni Association (IITDAA) said, “We value the outstanding achievements by IIT Delhi Alumni in their respective fields and are immensely proud of the contributions made by them. I congratulate all the awardees on their achievement.”

On receiving the award, P. Rajendran said, “It is a once in a lifetime moment for me to receive this prestigious award. I thank the entire IITD Alumni for conferring this honour on me for Corporate Excellence.”

“It was indeed a transformational point in my life when I moved into the start-up NIIT Limited and co-created the company with the founders. I am blessed to be a part of the NIIT journey, a company where the key mantra remains ‘NIIT is people’. My gratitude to every member of NIIT from yesterday and today, who have helped NIIT impact the lives of over 35 million learners worldwide,” added Mr. Rajendran.

For Rajendran, the root of and the route to corporate excellence lay in the hands, minds and spirit of the People at NIIT. With the stated belief that ‘NIIT is People’, he led innovative people initiatives for over three decades, bringing out the best in NIITians and helping them realise their vast inherent potential to grow continuously – in the profession, in the family and in their impact on the community. These led to great team work, high emotional and social quotients in NIITians, making them a unique breed of high performing professionals. When they move out of the company, they don the title of ‘Forever-NIITian’ proudly. NIIT received many acknowledgements - Innovative HR Practices, Top 25 ‘Best Places to work for’, Star Employer, 4th rank in India’s Best companies to work for and more.

An IIT Delhi Alumnus of the 1974 B.Tech EE, Rajendran is a member of the core team that developed and brought NIIT to its present position of global standing, since its inception in 1981. Rajendran also serves on the Board of Management of the not-for-profit NIIT University and is actively engaged with the not-for-profit NIIT Foundation, which addresses the skilling and employability needs of youth from the underprivileged segments of the society.

It may be recalled that members of the founding team of NIIT, Rajendra S Pawar, Chairman & Co-Founder, Vijay Thadani, Vice Chairman & MD and Co-founder, are among the past recipients of the prestigious IIT Delhi Distinguished Alumni award and Arvind Thakur, Former Vice Chairman & MD at NIIT Technologies Ltd., has been felicitated as the distinguished Alumnus of NITIE Mumbai and is a silver medallist from IIT Kharagpur.

NIIT Technologies is now Coforge

 NIIT Technologies Limited (NSE: COFORGE), a leading global IT solutions and services organization, announced that the company has begun operating under a new name Coforge Limited with a newly designed company logo unveiled today.

This renaming initiative reflects both the evolution of the company as well as its vision for the future. Tracing its roots back to 1981, the firm has over the last three years charted a very high growth and change trajectory.

A focus on very select industries, a detailed understanding of the underlying processes of those industries and partnerships with leading platforms provides Coforge with a distinct vantage. Coforge leverages AI, Cloud and Insight driven technologies, allied with industry expertise to transform client businesses into intelligent, high growth enterprises. The organization's 11,000+ Employees are the change drivers who transform businesses and industries at the intersect of deep Industry processes and technology capabilities.

The organization is headed towards hitting a benchmark of ~45% revenues from its Digital and IP portfolio which is reflective of the differentiated high impact work delivered under the Coforge digital services umbrella.

Commenting on the firm's re-branding, Mr. Sudhir Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Coforge Ltd, said, "We have charted a high growth and change trajectory for the firm in recent years and are today one of the fastest growing IT services firms in the industry. We are delighted to introduce a new name and brand identity that symbolizes this transition. Coforge stands for working together to create lasting value. The name reflects the deep employee and client centricity ingrained within our firm's culture. The 11,000 members of Team Coforge look forward to continue to partner with our clients and partners as they transform their businesses into intelligent, high growth enterprises." 

He further added, "We firmly believe that true transformation cannot be attempted by thinking in technology terms alone. It can only be delivered by a team that appreciates the business process context and also has the expertise to deploy the most appropriate technology solutions in that situation. We focus on very select industries, have a detailed understanding of the underlying processes of those industries and partner with leading platforms in those industries. We overlay our expertise in emerging and existing technologies on that business context understanding to deliver Intelligent, insight driven business models."

Concurrent with this change, a new website www.coforgetech.com too has been launched today, which will prominently feature the company's renewed focus on select industries and highlight its technology, operations and consulting capabilities.

For more information about the name change or to learn more about Coforge please visit: www.coforgetech.com 

About Coforge Limited

Coforge is a leading global IT solutions and services organization which believes that real transformation cannot be driven by thinking in technology terms alone. With a mission to "Transform at the Intersect" it aims to bring both deep domain and deep emerging technologies expertise to achieve real-world business impact. A focus on very select industries, a detailed understanding of the underlying processes of those industries and partnerships with leading platforms provides us a distinct vantage. We leverage AI, Cloud and Insight driven technologies, allied with our industry expertise, to transform client businesses into intelligent, high growth enterprises.

Learn more about Coforge at www.coforgetech.com 

NIIT University Welcomes Launch of NEAT Portal by MHRD to Encourage EdTech Startups

Institutes awards for faculty members and students to enhance their participation in selection of EdTech companies

Established with a vision to bring about innovation in higher education and learning in emerging areas of the knowledge society, the not-for-profit NIIT University (NU) is excited to be a part of MHRD's pioneering initiative NEAT (National Education Alliance for Technology) to encourage EdTech start-up culture amongst students in the country. The University looks forward to working with AICTE to implement MHRD's vision of harnessing technology for better learning outcomes.

Established with a vision to bring about innovation in higher education and learning in emerging areas of the knowledge society, the not-for-profit NIIT University (NU) is excited to be a part of MHRD's pioneering initiative NEAT (National Education Alliance for Technology) to encourage EdTech start-up culture amongst students in the country. The University looks forward to working with AICTE to implement MHRD's vision of harnessing technology for better learning outcomes.

The initial selection of the EdTech companies for the NEAT initiative, was done in a very innovative way by crowd sourcing suggestions from faculty members and students across the country.

To encourage the scheme of MHRD, so that more faculty members and students come forward in the forthcoming selection of EdTech companies, NU will institute 5 awards of 50,000/- each for faculty members and 10 awards for students of Rs. 10,000/- each. The awards will be determined through a rigorous process and will be announced at an appropriate time.

Being the University of the Future with an emphasis on Innovation & Entrepreneurship with deep interest in Education Technology, NU has been laying emphasis in usage of Technologies right from inception in all areas of the University including academic operations, assessments & examinations and administration.
About NU

Established in 2009, NIIT University (NU) is a not-for-profit University covered under section 2(f) of UGC Act and notified by the Government of Rajasthan. A premier institution of higher learning and research, NU seeks to create original thinkers who will lead the knowledge society of the future. The University inherits four decades of rich expertise and global know-how of its principal sponsor, the NIIT Group.

Nurtured by some of the foremost thought leaders and corporate-practitioners of the country, the multi-disciplinary University focuses on emerging areas of technology and management. NU is a part of a 100-acre campus at Neemrana, Rajasthan, 90 minutes from Delhi Airport.

Nestled in the Aravalli hills, the fully residential green campus offers an idyllic and intellectually vibrant environment for pursuing higher education and research. Set up with the vision to be the role model of learning, research, innovation and sustainability for the knowledge society, NU is dedicated to building great careers and ensuring excellent job opportunities for all its students. It has been developed as an institute of excellence to provide exceptional education based on its Four Core Principles that make learning Industry-linked, Technology-based, Research-driven and Seamless.

NU offers the entire spectrum of academic programs. At the undergraduate level, it offers BTech (Computer Science & Engineering, Electronics & Communication, Biotechnology), 4-year Integrated MBA (Marketing & Marketing Analytics, Entrepreneurship, Finance Banking & FinTech, Business Analytics, Communication & Media studies, Digital & Social Media Marketing), 4-year Integrated MSc (Computer Science), 5-year Integrated MTech and M. Tech (Educational Technology and Geographic Information Systems). In addition, NU also offers MBA, PhD programs and several Industry Sponsored Programs.

~ BusinessWire India

NIIT and Automation Anywhere Collaborate to Launch Robotic Process Automation Workshops

NIIT Limited, a global leader in skills and talent development, is collaborating with Automation Anywhere, a global leader in robotic process automation (RPA), to deliver comprehensive RPA workshops to developers, students and IT professionals across India.

A three-day workshop, Mastering Bots: Design and Build an Advanced Digital Workforce is designed to help participants learn how to create and automate software bots, apply RPA in real-world scenarios and understand the importance of RPA in the broader technology landscape. It will also familiarize attendees with Automation Anywhere’s RPA platform.

A one-day workshop, Introduction to Bots has also been launched, offering an overview on software bots, and a program focused on advanced RPA is planned for the coming months.

According to a report by Grand View Research, Inc., the global RPA market is expected to reach $3.97 Billion by 2025, growing at more than 30 per cent CAGR. RPA has become central to digital transformation initiatives of organizations across multiple industries to increase productivity and lower operating costs. RPA automates error-prone, high-volume administrative work, in addition to offering other benefits like improving internal processes and business response times.

Speaking on the collaboration, Bimaljeet Singh, President, Skills and Careers Business (India), NIIT Ltd. said, “The domain of RPA is growing rapidly and has become central to digital transformation initiatives of organizations across industries. We are glad to join hands with Automation Anywhere, to encourage learners to seize the career opportunity, as well as enterprises to solve their learning and development needs.”

“NIIT workshops are now providing attendees a concentrated program on RPA training which will address the need for these high demand skills,” said Arvind Thothadri, Vice President, Global Training and Certification at Automation Anywhere. “Workshop attendees will now have the advantages of RPA training that could help open more career opportunities for them, and at the same time, give human workers more time to focus on innovation.”

For more details visit: https://www.niit.com/rpa-workshop/ or Contact:- # 098115 43428

About NIIT

NIIT is a leading Skills and Talent Development Corporation that is building a manpower pool for global industry requirements. The company, which was set up in 1981 to help the nascent IT industry overcome its human resource challenges, today ranks among the world's leading training companies owing to its vast and comprehensive array of talent development programs. With a footprint in over 30 countries, NIIT offers training and development solutions to Individuals, Enterprises and Institutions. NIIT has three main lines of business across the globe – Corporate Learning Group, Skills & Careers Business and MindChampion Learning Systems Limited.

NIIT's Corporate Learning Group (CLG) offers Managed Training Services (MTS) to market-leading companies in North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. The Skills & Careers Business (SNC) delivers a diverse range of learning and talent development programs to millions of individual and corporate learners in areas including Digital Transformation, Banking, Finance & Insurance, Soft Skills, Business Process Excellence, Retail Sales Enablement, Management Education, Multi-Sectoral Vocational Skills, Digital Media Marketing, and new-age IT.

NIIT has incubated StackRoute, as a digital transformation partner for corporates to build multi-skilled full stack developers at scale. As NIIT's wholly owned subsidiary for its K-12 school learning initiative - MindChampion Learning Systems Limited (MLSL), provides curriculum based holistic range of education learning solutions to private schools in India under the nGuru brand. The product portfolio includes technology-driven classroom solutions, labs, assessment solutions, career guidance and counselling programs, and courseware solutions for IT, Maths, Science and English.

As the Most Trusted Training Brand in India for 5th year in a row (Brand Trust Report, 2017), NIIT's learning and talent development solutions, continue to receive widespread recognition globally. NIIT has been named among the Top 20 Training Outsourcing Companies for the past eleven consecutive years by Training Industry, Inc. USA. Further, leading Indian ICT journal Dataquest has conferred upon NIIT the 'Top Training Company' award successively for the past 20 years, since the inception of this category. NIIT has also been featured as the 'Most Respected Education Company'- 2016 by leading financial magazine, Business World.

NIIT Technologies Introduces Microsoft Azure and AI-based Cognitive Service Desk Audit

NIIT Technologies Limited, a leading global IT solutions organization, announces the launch of a new cloud-based solution, Cognitive Service Desk Audit, built on Microsoft Azure platform. The solution will play a major role in enhancing the productivity of enterprises by increasing operational efficiency, reducing audit efforts and improving quality and vigilance.

Cognitive Service Desk Audit uses AI (Artificial Intelligence) to define the tonality of the end user through text mining & analytics. The software also audits the staff’s voice and accent quality, resolution accuracy, and process adherence audit to provide quality output. Additionally, to minimize errors in understanding the end user party during the conversation, the solution also provides real time on-screen speech transcription of the online phone conversation.

Vamsi Rupakula, Global Head - IMS & Cloud at NIIT Technologies, stated, “We are dedicated towards boosting the client business by engaging at the intersect of deep domain expertise and emerging technologies. Our teams have designed the Cognitive Service Desk Audit on the Microsoft Azure platform to increase the productivity of the end user in the enterprise. The solution helps to minimize human errors, enhances quality, improves productivity, and delivers real-world business impact.”

Rajiv Sodhi, General Manager partner Ecosystem at Microsoft stated, “Microsoft AI based cognitive services are easy to integrate, and enable applications, websites and bots to see, hear, speak, understand and interpret user needs through natural methods of communication. Our collaboration with NIIT Technologies will enable businesses to add new capabilities to their audit process, and enhance customer engagement, using Microsoft’s AI platform and the trusted Microsoft Azure cloud.”

NIIT Technologies has taken the lead in implementing the solution and deployed it internally to further develop it from experience and make it better to benefit the clients.

NIIT Technologies has been a Microsoft Partner for nearly two decades. The two have jointly enabled large enterprises transform in a rapidly changing IT landscape. The Cognitive Service Desk Audit is another offering that has leveraged the Microsoft platform to aid the clients to seamlessly move their business applications to the cloud while managing and operating at scale.

NIIT Acquires the Business of EdTech Startup, Perceptron

NIIT, a global leader in skills and talent development has acquired the business of Bangalore-based start-up Perceptron Learning Solutions Private Limited. The strategic acquisition will bring together complementary technology platforms and capabilities of NIIT and Perceptron, enabling NIIT to further accelerate its Digital Transformation initiatives – StackRoute, digiNxt, and Training.com.

‘Ilimi’, which is Perceptron’s next-gen learning platform combines leading edge developments in semantic computing, predictive analytics, learning science, and digital transformation technologies to create an environment for implementing learner-centric, immersive learning & mastery learning strategies.

Perceptron’s acquisition builds on NIIT’s strategic focus for a leadership role in the Digital Learning world. Together with existing platforms, this will become an integral part of NIIT’s future multi-modal learning platform and 360 degree learning eco-system. Further, Perceptron’s co-founders and engineering team will strengthen NIIT’s technology talent pool with their proven expertise.

NIIT also announced the appointment of Mr. Satish Sukumar, Co-Founder & CEO of Perceptron as CTO of StackRoute Labs. StackRoute Labs is an NIIT initiative to build deep competencies in areas such as machine learning, IOT and full stack product engineering. These are critical to the digital transformation of enterprises. StackRoute Labs builds IP, offers consulting and creates advanced courses such as the full-stack bootcamps delivered at StackRoute and NIIT’s DigiNxt.

Commenting on the development, Mr. Rahul Patwardhan, CEO, NIIT Ltd said, “Taking forward NIIT’s thrust on Digital Transformation in the EdTech domain, this strategic acquisition of Perceptron will further strengthen NIIT’s leadership role in the Digital Learning World. We are happy to have Perceptron’s team including the co-founders, Satish Sukumar and Feroz Sheikh, join us in this journey as NIITians. NIIT will continue to look for innovative start-ups and talent in the EdTech space”

Ilimi’s MOOC 2.0 learning environment, combines short videos with personalized attention guided by analytics & social learning. The custom Ilimi video player allows the integration of intercept points to integrate a range of learning activities with video content. The platform is cloud-based and mobile friendly and its Micro-Services architecture ensure scalability and high availability while retaining the flexibility to integrate with existing systems through API’s.

Mr. Satish Sukumar, Co-Founder & CEO of Perceptron said, “We are delighted to join forces with NIIT, an industry leader in the education and training space. Joining the NIIT eco-system gives us the opportunity to work on some of the most challenging problems in the EdTech domain and continue to innovate. We are excited by the range and scope of customer scenarios we can impact at NIIT.”

Ilimi technology is one of the core components of the EkStep learning platform. EkStep (www.ekstep.org), a not-for- profit initiative set up by Nandan Nilekani, Rohini Nilekani and Shankar Maruwada, is creating a collaborative, universal platform, digital infrastructure and tools to increase access to learning opportunities for children by facilitating creation and consumption of educational content.